Current Projects
Featured
To develop and validate a framework that accelerates the translation of Soil CRC research into practical on-ground adoption by farmers.
A multi‑region initiative led by CWFS with six regional partners to engage more than 500 sheep producers across NSW and Victoria through demonstration sites, workshops/field days, case studies and extension. Producers will trial precision livestock technologies (e.g. OptiWeigh, CiboLabs) and adaptive grazing/nutrition strategies to reduce methane emissions, improve soil health and water retention, boost productivity and resilience, and build confidence in decision‑making for low‑emissions flock management.
This project will enhance resilience of sheep production systems by combining climate resilient sheep with novel, drought tolerant pastures, shrubs and trees which enhance consistency of feed supply, stabilise and improve landscape health, and create microclimates that increase sheep welfare and productivity.
This project uses long-term trial sites and advanced crop modelling to compare innovative and conventional soil and farm management practices, assessing their impact on soil water, productivity, and resilience under current and future climate scenarios.
Its goal is to build drought-resilient farming systems across Australia by identifying practices that strengthen productivity, profitability, and recovery in dryland, grazing, and mixed farming environments.
This project is testing three new slow-release organic-based nitrogen fertilisers—made from peanut shell biochar, cow manure, and green waste compost—to determine whether they can improve nitrogen use efficiency, crop performance, and soil health compared with conventional urea.
Trials in NSW, VIC, and QLD will measure crop uptake, yield, and soil function across multiple farming systems to assess their potential as more sustainable, cost-effective fertiliser options.
This national program brings together 40 grower and land-management groups to deliver carbon farming training to more than 3,500 farming enterprises, helping producers reduce emissions, build carbon literacy, and explore carbon farming opportunities.
Through workshops, train-the-trainer programs, and ongoing advisor support, the initiative aims to build long-term capability across Australia’s broadacre and pastoral industries.
RiskWi$e is a national five-year, $30 million GRDC initiative helping grain growers better understand and manage production and financial risks by improving their knowledge of risk–reward trade-offs in key on-farm decisions.
Through participatory action research across Australia, the program engages growers directly in analysing nitrogen, sowing, agronomic, financial and natural resource decisions so they can make more confident, resilient and profitable choices in an increasingly unpredictable climate.
This project conducts rapid mouse-monitoring across multiple Central West NSW sites to track population size, breeding activity and seasonal trends using chew cards and active burrow counts.
By generating consistent, long-term data, CSIRO and CWFS can improve outbreak forecasting models and support growers with earlier, more accurate predictions of mouse population surges.
This long-term project is trialling multiple lucerne cultivars under variable seasonal and drought conditions to help producers in low-rainfall zones better understand lucerne growth, soil moisture use and management strategies that improve resilience.
Through a replicated trial at the CWFS Fettell Centre and a community-of-practice model, the project uses field measurements and ag-tech data to support evidence-based decision-making in mixed farming systems.
This project is examining how greater plant diversity—through cover crops, intercropping and varied crop rotations—can improve soil resilience, boost carbon dynamics and maintain or lift productivity in Australian cropping systems.
Using long-term trials at CWFS and partner sites, researchers are measuring impacts on soil carbon, microbial communities, soil structure and system performance to identify practical agronomic strategies that build healthier, more resilient soils.
This project is improving whole-farm profitability in southern NSW by identifying the agronomic factors that drive returns and testing how strategic and tactical decisions—such as crop choice, sowing time and nitrogen management—perform across different farming systems.
This project is investigating how plant diversity in rotations, intercropping and cover crops influences soil microbial processes, nutrient cycling and overall soil function across different farming systems and environments.
By testing a wide range of soil biology indicators at multiple sites and seasons, the research aims to identify which microbial measures are most useful for guiding on-farm decisions that improve productivity, soil health and resilience to stresses like drought.
This project is assessing how organic amendments such as manures, composts and biosolids can unlock bound soil nutrients, improve nutrient-use efficiency and enhance fertility across different soils and cropping systems.
By analysing nutrient forms, testing innovative application methods and evaluating plant uptake and soil responses, the research aims to provide practical, sustainable alternatives that reduce reliance on conventional fertiliser resources.